Maine approves new pesticides with forever chemicals
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 15, 2026
The Maine pesticide control board has approved two weedkillers and a potato insecticide that contain forever chemicals, despite the state’s five-year-old law phasing out the sale of products that contain these hazardous substances. The board voted 5-1 in December to allow pesticides containing cyclobutrifluram, epyrifenacil and isocycloseram after a board toxicologist told them the ingredients are not considered to be forever chemicals, or PFAS, under federal law; they are under state law. Environmental advocates and organic farmers condemned the approval, claiming the board is using the narrow federal definition of a forever chemical to ignore Maine’s intent to sunset all PFAS in products made or sold in Maine by 2032.